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WWE Evolution
Evolution 2018 was a women's professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK brands. It took place on October 28, 2018, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York. It was the first pay-per-view in WWE history to be comprised entirely of women's matches. The main card consisted of seven matches. Three of WWE's four women's championships were defended on the main card; the fourth was defended in a dark match before the show. It also featured the finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament. In the main event, Ronda Rousey defeated Nikki Bella by submission to retain the Raw Women's Championship. In the penultimate match, Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. In other prominent matches, Toni Storm defeated Io Shirai to win the 2018 Mae Young Classic, and Shayna Baszler defeated Kairi Sane to become the first two-time NXT Women's Champion. Production Background On the July 23, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw, Stephanie McMahon announced that for the first time, WWE would hold an all-women's pay-per-view called Evolution. Hall of Famers Lita, Trish Stratus, and Beth Phoenix were advertised as taking part in the event. It was also announced that all four of WWE's women's championships would be defended and that the event would host the finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. Storylines The card consisted of seven matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and NXT. On August 18, a match between Alexa Bliss and Trish Stratus was scheduled for Evolution. Then, on September 3, a match between Lita and Mickie James was scheduled for the event; the two last faced each other at the 2006 Survivor Series where James won the original WWE Women's Championship from Lita in the latter's retirement match. On the October 8 episode of Raw, a confrontation between the four women occurred. It was then revealed that instead of the two singles matches, Bliss and James would face Stratus and Lita in a tag team match at Evolution. On October 26, however, Alicia Fox replaced Bliss due to injury, but it was revealed that she would be in James and Fox's corner for the match. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, Kairi Sane defeated Shayna Baszler to win the NXT Women's Championship. On the September 26 episode of NXT, a rematch between the two for the title was scheduled for Evolution. At SummerSlam, Ronda Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss to win the Raw Women's Championship. Following her win, The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie Bella) celebrated with the new champion. At Super Show-Down, it was announced that a title defense for Rousey was scheduled for Evolution. At that same event, Rousey and The Bella Twins teamed up to defeat The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan). On the following episode of Raw, Rousey and The Bella Twins would again defeat The Riott Squad in a rematch. Following the match, however, The Bella Twins attacked Rousey, turning heel. A title match between Rousey and Nikki was then scheduled for Evolution. At SummerSlam, Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch and former champion Carmella in a triple threat match to become a two-time SmackDown Women's Champion by pinning Lynch. Following the match, Lynch attacked Flair, turning heel. Lynch then defeated Flair to win the championship at Hell in a Cell. A rematch occurred at Super Show-Down where Flair won by disqualification after Lynch attacked her with the title belt, thus Lynch retained. The two had a rematch on the following episode of SmackDown, but it ended in a double countout, resulting in Lynch again retaining. SmackDown General Manager Paige then announced that the two would have another rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Evolution, but as a last woman standing match, the first in WWE. On the October 15 episode of Raw, it was announced that a battle royal for a women's championship match would also take place at Evolution with various competitors announced to take part, including WWE legends and Hall of Famers. On October 22 edition of Raw, it was announced that The Riott Squad would face off against the team of Sasha Banks, Bayley and Natalya. Aftermath On the October 29 edition of Raw, it was announced that Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey would face off against SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch at Survivor Series. Later that same evening, Nia Jax defeated Ember Moon after a distraction by Tamina, leading to a staredown between Tamina and Jax. After defeating Moon in a rematch the following week, Jax joined Tamina in attacking Moon, turning Jax into a villainess and establishing an alliance with Tamina. At Survivor Series, Jax was victorious for Team Raw as the lone survivor in the women's elimination match. On the November 19 episode of Raw, Jax's Raw Women's Championship match was confirmed to happen at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. After losing to Becky Lynch at Evolution, Charlotte Flair received an offer from SmackDown General Manager Paige on the October 30 episode of SmackDown Live, being asked to captain Team SmackDown in the women's elimination match, only for Charlotte to turn down the offer. Charlotte instead became Lynch's replacement in a match against Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey at the event, as Lynch suffered a legit injury just days prior to Survivor Series. On the November 7 episode of NXT, it was announced that Kairi Sane would be invoking her rematch clause and would face NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler in a two-out-of-three-falls match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Results Battle Royal Eliminations Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2018 Pay-Per-View Events